Driver banned and fined for refusing to give breath test

Refusing to give a breath test at the police station in Lerwick earned a Bressay man a 15-month ban and a fine of £400.

Stanley Garriock, 35, of Glebe Park, Bressay, admitted failing to provide two breath tests on Wednesday when asked to by officers who had detained him at the Bressay ferry terminal.

He admitted the offence when he appeared from custody before honorary Sheriff Roger Mcdonald at the court in Lerwick on Thursday.

Procurator fiscal Duncan MacKenzie said police had been called to the terminal by a concerned member of the public. The person had seen Garriock getting out of a car with the keys in his hands, before getting into another one.

He failed an initial roadside screen test, and was taken back to the police station, but on being asked to provide a test he “point-blankly refused to provide the samples”. “It’s about as blatant a breach as one could get,” Mr MacKenzie said.

A defence agent for Garriock said he had been under the misunderstanding that having provided the roadside screening test he was not obliged to provide any further samples at the police station.

Honorary Sheriff Mcdonald disqualified Garriock from getting behind the wheel for 15 months, however he said the ban would be reduced to 12 months if he successfully completed a drivers’ rehabilitation course.